Did You See The Venus Transit?

[DrRobin]

Hi Army.....

Ironic that you chose my prefered location. Actually my first location was going to be St Mary's Lighthouse at the north end of Whitley Bay, I then decided on more height and then found out that was were Newcastle Astro Soc were going to go. Small world?

[psjshep]

A few of us made the journey to our most easterly point in Lowestoft (NR32, I think) - Rain & cloud.... When we got back to N. Peterborough ~2.5 hrs later, the Sun was shining *sigh*

Phil

[SeedyF]

It rained cats and dogs in Broadstairs Kent, but at least me and the missus gave ourselves a chance of seeing it.

Like Phil above we then enjoyed a beautiful morning walking along the beach - gutting

[kor84]

I was on my way home after deciding the clouds had me beaten, but then they opened up at 5.43 so I caught it until 5.48 through my bins before the clouds rolled in again!!

This was from Bishops Waltham.

[DrRobin]

Hi,

The majority of sightings are still around the same line. Looking for anyone in Ireland who saw it or not?

Map updated and time for another copy here.

[jflowers]

A few of us made the journey to our most easterly point in Lowestoft (NR32, I think) - Rain & cloud.... When we got back to N. Peterborough ~2.5 hrs later, the Sun was shining *sigh*

Phil

You would still have missed it if you stayed at home, was watching from 4.40 - 5.50, the sun cleared the clouds around 6.15

[PeteC]

No sign of it. Thick low cloud in the South Pennines on the Lancs / Yorkshire border (junction 22 Saddleworth turn off of the M62). Very good north eastern horizon though!

Pete

[stephenwilliamwatts]

Didn't see it in Walsall / Barr beacon along with 50 other people clouded out

[DrRobin]

Hi,

Both reports added to the Google map. Stephen, it just shows you how selective it was, they saw it 40 miles to the SE of you.

Still looking for anyone from Ireland, Cumbria, West coast of Scotland, The West Country and South Wales to send in reports?

[hayju01]

Up dressed and ready to go (including packed lunch/breakfast) and it didnt clear........................until 40 mins AFTER :-(

Not happy :-( Grrrrrr!!!!

[smudgeball]

Nope

Tuned in to the NASA / Hawaii vid link on the web to watch as it started to cross the sun.

But thick cloud and rain here in morning so no joy.

Neil

[John]

Cloudy this time around in North Somerset, unfortunately

I did however see the 2004 one from beginning to end and projected it for others to see too. So at least I saw one of the two occurrences

[kharga]

Did not see it in Buxton, Derbyshire and we had a good clear horizon ready for it!!!!

[telesto]

Clouded out in Mansfield

[Flaxinator]

Cloudy and light rain in Newton Abbot, with skies clearing afterwards :-( stayed in and watched live feed from keck

[Geoffteeth]

Seen and photographed at the Rugby & District AS star camp, Mollington. Appx 10 minutes between third and fourth contact.

Lat: N52.12754

Long: W1.35553

Cool

[Hypernova]

No luck from Crewe. The forecast was poor from the outset which led to Keele Observatory cancelling their planned session this morning which I was going to attend. I watched the first part of the transit up until a few minutes after second contact on the NASA stream and then went off to bed. I did wake up at 4 to see what the sky was like and it was 100% cloud cover. Went back to bed until 11am and awoke to a much clearer sky with the sun shining high through very patchy clouds. It has stayed much the same all day, I do wish that the transit was 24 hours later as I'd say we'd have had a much better chance in the UK.

Here's to the 2016 Mercury transit, just as good, just smaller and more frequent

[psjshep]

You would still have missed it if you stayed at home, was watching from 4.40 - 5.50, the sun cleared the clouds around 6.15

yep... I know... it was clearing as we got to Thorney, Jon....

Phil

[winterlight]

Lucky cloud break just before egress in Wendover, Bucks. Saw it with a Binomate for possibly less than 30s.

[x6gas]

South of Didcot, Oxfordshire: got a glimpse of it for a total of about 20 seconds.

Me too Thermos - had I known you were there I would have said hello!

(Actually I managed about 5 seconds! But hey, we saw it :-))

[skywatcher58gb]

I was standing next to ArmyAirForce at 4.30am - earlier post, coud'nt even see the light on the end of Roker Pier.

Dave

[ArmyAirForce]

It did get worse the longer we waited.

[DrRobin]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who has replied. Your replies have built up a great map of sightings, still clustered together in a line from south east of Birmingham to the south coast near Brighton.

Next one is Mercury in 2012, starting at 11:12 on May 9th and finishing at 18:42, should give everyone a fighting chance.

[Apatheist]

I didn't see it - didn't have the equipment ready because it was cloudy most of the night. However I believe I would have seen it as it was clear enough at around 5am in Chatham, Kent.

[DrRobin]

Hi,

Reason I didn't see the transit, according to my rain gauge it never stopped raining between 4and 6am, will post the graph tomorrow.